[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index ][Thread Index ]

ILLEGAL LOGGING-Influential people



ILLEGAL LOGGING               Bangkok Post

                                     Influential people behind  the illegal 
 border  business

                                     Money and power are the name of the 
game

                                     Illegal logging involves powerful
                                     people. It is big business in
                                     which the operators are
                                     protected by politicians and
                                     men in uniform - primarily the
                                     military.

                                     The National Security Council
                                     lists logging as one of major
                                     border businesses. But it would
                                     not survive if it were not for the
                                     links between minority forces,
                                     politicians, local administrators
                                     and local military units.

                                     "In the logging business, money
                                     and power are the name of the
                                     game," said Pongpol
                                     Adireksarn, the agriculture and
                                     cooperatives minister.

                                     The House of Representatives
                                     has attacked these "irregular"
                                     relations several times.

                                     Suchart Tancharoen, the former
                                     deputy interior minister in the
                                     Banharn Silpa-archa
                                     government, was censured for
                                     his alleged involvement in
                                     logging by minority groups
                                     along the Thai Burmese border.

                                     Mr Suchart, now a Thai Party
                                     MP for Chachoengsao, was
                                     said to have jointly invested in a
                                     logging business with Zaw Ma
                                     Khine, a Burmese
                                     businesswoman with close ties
                                     with Burma's military rulers.

                                     Former premier Mr Banharn
                                     himself was also accused of
                                     taking bribes from log traders to
                                     open temporary checkpoints to
                                     allow log imports on the
                                     Thai-Cambodian border.

                                     And ex-premier Chavalit
                                     Yongchaiyudh faced similar
                                     accusations when he assumed
                                     the premiership.

                                     Logging along the
                                     Thai-Burmese border from the
                                     northern province of Tak up to
                                     Mae Hong Son further north has
                                     been under the control of the
                                     rebel Karen National Union,
                                     Karenni National Progressive
                                     Liberation Front and Khun Sa,
                                     the drug warlord of the Mong
                                     Tai Army who surrendered to
                                     Rangoon.

                                     Funding comes mainly from
                                     Thai investors including
                                     Sakabee Co, Thai Veneer
                                     Industry 999 Co, SPA Richwood
                                     Co, Korean Veterans Welfare
                                     Co, Polpana Co, B and F
                                     Goodrich Co, STB Co and
                                     Boonsawat and Company Co.

                                     Some of these firms hold
                                     logging concessions in Burma
                                     while some are sub-contractors
                                     hired by the concessionnaires
                                     to build roads into the jungles,
                                     fell trees and remove logs from
                                     the forests.

                                     Logs shipped in by the
                                     concessionnaires hold
                                     certificates of origin approved
                                     by both the Thai and Burmese
                                     governments.

                                     A major logging operator in Mae
                                     Hong Son described the
                                     business as "dirty, mysterious
                                     and tricky".

                                     This operator said she was
                                     double-crossed by other log
                                     traders who made false reports
                                     to authorities that her
                                     certificates of origin were fake.

                                     She insisted she had obtained
                                     them through official channels.
                                     It took her almost one year for
                                     her application to be approved
                                     by the foreign and interior
                                     ministries and agencies
                                     concerned in Burma.

                                     Logging in Burma required huge
                                     investments from the start.
                                     Roads had to be cut into
                                     concessioned areas and
                                     workers risked being attacked
                                     by rebel forces or suffering from
                                     malaria. Payments for the logs
                                     had to be made in cash and
                                     food and other necessities had
                                     to be supplied to both the
                                     minority forces and Burmese
                                     soldiers.

                                     These did not involve extra
                                     costs - kickbacks paid to
                                     authorities in exchange for their
                                     help in facilitating logging
                                     operations.

                                     The logging operator said rivals
                                     had several times relied on the
                                     influence of their supporters to
                                     delay imports by her company
                                     and sought to buy her logs
                                     directly from the rebels.

                                     Betrayal, she said, was often
                                     paid back by "death".

                                     The operator, however, denied
                                     loggers had started to cut trees
                                     in Thailand's forest reserves.
                                     She insisted the logs came
                                     from Burma.

                                     "If we don't cut the trees there,
                                     then other countries will," she
                                     said.

                                     Her business, she claimed,
                                     contributed a lot to society. The
                                     firm paid almost 100 million
                                     baht in tax annually and
                                     provided financial support to
                                     schools in border areas.

                                     But she admitted that forests
                                     could not be destroyed in large
                                     scale without support from
                                     powerful people.

                                     The government should tighten
                                     logging regulations to help
                                     create fair competition.

                                     Kriangkrai Vanachayangkul,
                                     owner of Vanakarn Sawmill in
                                     Mae Hong Son, who was
                                     arrested and his business shut
                                     down for allegedly using fake
                                     certificates of origin when
                                     importing logs, believed he had
                                     been double-crossed.

                                     Mr Kriangkrai finally won his
                                     case, which cost him more than
                                     10 million baht.

                                     Before the charge was brought,
                                     Mr Kriangkrai said an influential
                                     logging trader had asked to buy
                                     his sawmill. He refused. The
                                     businessman then asked to rent
                                     it. He refused again and then
                                     received a death threat.

                                     Mr Kriangkrai used to log in
                                     concessioned areas in Mae
                                     Hong Son but turned to buy logs
                                     from Burma after the closure of
                                     forests in the country.

                                     He admitted, however, that the
                                     logs shipped in through Mae
                                     Sariang district in Mae Hong
                                     Son could possibly be cut
                                     illegally in Thailand, then sent to
                                     Burma for sealing, and later
                                     brought back to Thailand.

                                     Mr Kriangkrai also admitted that
                                     logging operators could not run
                                     businesses without the support
                                     and influence of politicians and
                                     powerful military officers.

                                     Major logging companies
                                     holding concessions in Burma
                                     all had politicians and military
                                     generals as shareholders.

                                     It seemed that "ordinary" people
                                     could not own logging firms.

                                     Logging in border areas would
                                     be difficult and dangerous
                                     without assistance from the
                                     military.

                                     Log imports from Burma
                                     through Mae Hong Son were
                                     made possible by the former
                                     Chavalit government which
                                     agreed to open five border
                                     passes in Ban Huay Pueng, Ban
                                     Nam Piang Din, Ban Huay Ton
                                     Noon, Ban Sao Hin and Ban
                                     Mae Sam Laeb.

                                     The opening was meant to
                                     allow three big companies to
                                     bring in 10,000 logs. However,
                                     there was also an influx of
                                     illegally-cut logs from Burma,
                                     prompting that country to send a
                                     protest to Thailand.

                                     A source said Burma alleged
                                     that eight Thai firms had
                                     falsified certificates of origin.

                                     The complaint, however, was
                                     ignored by Thai authorities
                                     because government insiders
                                     had connections with logging
                                     operators.

                                     Burma then retaliated by closing
                                     border checkpoints in Mae Sai,
                                     Chiang Rai, and Mae Sot, Tak.
                                     That caused cross-border trade
                                     to drop by one billion baht.

                                     A meeting of Karen rebel
                                     leaders chaired by Gen Bo Mya
                                     early last year discussed the
                                     problem of illegally-cut logs in
                                     Thailand.

                                     Thai loggers were also said to
                                     have paid a large sum of money
                                     to cut trees in areas held by
                                     Khun Sa and the Kaya minority.

                                     The source said it was
                                     impossible to break the links
                                     between businesses and
                                     influential politicians.

                                     Illegal logging in Salween
                                     National Park was exposed only
                                     because new power groups
                                     close to the new government
                                     wanted to take control of the
                                     business, said the source.